The Paradox Effect
by HunnyFanatic
Summary: In an attempt to get rid of the seal, Erebus sent Minato back in time before his signing of the contract, hoping to reset his power and kill him before he becomes powerful once again. P3.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** So... I haven't truly completed P3P yet, and I haven't played the original PS2 version or the FES version, so please don't hit me. /hides

The combat system used here will be a mix-and-match between all the P3 games, so it might get a little confusing. And I know that there are already a lot of new game plus fanfics out there and I hate to contribute to the pile, but... I simply can't resist. I'm sorry.

I will probably rewrite this when I finish the story.

**01/18/2015:** This chapter got a tiny edit. And by that I mean I added more transitions, so there's no story line change. The other chapters might get the same treatment if I feel like they need it.

**Disclaimer: P3 belongs to Atlus.**

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

* * *

><p>Erebus let out a low growl, and the sound resonated throughout the Abyss of Time.<p>

It was full moon once again, and as human grief and sorrow reached another peak, the body of Erebus recovered, restoring the monster to its full form. It stood in front of the statue of the crucified savior, preparing its assault. Fortunately, the woman in blue uniform was not here, leaving it with a higher chance of removing the seal without interruption.

It attacked the seal without any hesitation; pulling it, punching it, setting it on fire, slashing it.

Many blows at the statue made Erebus realize that attacking will only waste its time. The power of the Universe Arcana made the statue indestructible.

But Erebus would not give up until it can reach Nyx again.

An idea struck Erebus. No matter how much power the seal received from his arcana, he was still a human soul, limited by the capabilities of human potential.

The location was in Erebus's favor, and the woman who destroyed Erebus before was still nowhere in sight. Erebus summoned all of his power, and pulled away the lingering soul that was on the seal.

Erebus sent its enemy back in time, long before he ever received his power. It would follow him back in time, killing him before he became a hindrance.

* * *

><p>When Minato Arisato was conscious again, he found himself in the Velvet Room. Just as always, Igor was sitting there and smiling ominously with Elizabeth standing right next to him.<p>

Minato had no idea how long it had been since he last saw this room. A pang of nostalgia struck him along with a foreboding sense of danger.

He still remembered everything. The contract, Pharos, joining SEES, fighting Shadows, Tartarus, Ryoji, Nyx...

His head felt clouded with memories.

"Ah, it seems that your journey has not yet ended," said Igor, "and an unusual way to start a journey it is! Not many people get second chances."

Minato was not sure what Igor meant. He, who dedicated his life to keep the Great Seal intact, should not receive a second chance. He did not expect to get more chances, either. When he offered himself as the Great Seal, he knew he would never see his friends again after graduation.

Just as he was about to ask, he felt a large tremor in the forever-ascending Velvet Room.

"Master," Elizabeth said, "it would seem that Erebus has arrived as well."

"I see. Well then, I shall not keep you here any longer," Igor said with a grin that reminded Minato of their first meeting, "When you come back on your own accord, I will explain your situation to you. Until then, farewell."

Minato blacked out.

* * *

><p>Once his vision returned, he barely dodged a fatal attack from the two-headed shadow in front of him. A tremor similar to the one he experienced in the Velvel Room moments ago caused him to kneel down and regain balance. He reached for his sword and was almost instantly relieved when he found that the Lucifer's blade he took so long to fuse was still with him conveniently with his evoker. He blocked another strike from Erebus, raised his evoker towards his head, and fired.<p>

He heard a click, then nothing. No persona appeared.

Quickly realizing that this was not the time to be shocked, Minato parried and saved himself from another swift strike. He fired his evoker again.

Nothing happened.

The battles turned into a one-sided assault. Erebus began to use magic, creating fire with Agidyne and ice with Bufudyne. The Omnipotent Orb in Minato's pocket glowed as it blocked all magic damage for him, keeping him alive.

But physical attacks were not efficient in a solo battle like this. Elizabeth had taught him that. He needed his persona. Multiple of them if possible.

Desperately, he aimed the evoker at his head again. Erebus, on the other hand, prepared for an Almighty Attack after finding all of its elemental spells blocked. He was running out of time. In his mind, he reached out to his persona.

He shot, and this time, he felt his persona coming back.

Thanatos emerged with a roar and shredded Erebus apart, destroying Erebus as if it was just another wimpy shadow. Minato winced at the similarity of this situation with the night he first summoned Orpheus. When Thanatos disappeared, he thought that someone was talking to him.

_You're back._

It was Ryoji's voice.

_Apparently. It took you a while to appear, though. Where were you?_ Minato asked.

_I was here all along, but it was you who took a while to adjust. Man, I was worried that you wouldn't summon me in time!_

Minato felt glad that at least Ryoji had not changed, although he could only speak to Minato in his head. Soon, Minato felt the rest of his personas return; Orpheus first, then Messiah, and the rest in a few seconds. He was relieved that he did not lose his personas, but the new surroundings in which he was fighting Erebus baffled him.

_Okay. So where are we?_

Minato did not have time to observe his surroundings before, but once he did, he noticed something that stood out to him. The moon was not eerily gigantic, and the lamp posts were still functioning normally at night, which means...

_I just summoned you without being in the Dark Hour._

_Yeah, I'm not sure why that worked._

There was no one around them, luckily, which means the exchange between Minato and Erebus went unseen. Minato realized that he was standing in the Iwatodai Strip Mall, which was possibly why no one was there at night. However, the strip mall itself felt different somehow. Minato could not pinpoint the exact difference though.

_Ryoji, does the mall look strange to you?_

_I don't know. I haven't been here a lot._

Minato decided to walk around. The mall, he thought, looked older than he remembered. The Bookworms that he regularly visited could not be seen, and the same with the Iwatodai branch of Wild-Duck Burger. Just outside the mall, fences with the signs 'Do Not Enter' were blocking its entrance.

_Times sure have changed,_ Minato thought to himself, _I thought the strip mall just finished its renovations when I left._

He gave Paulownia Mall a visit next. Some of the facilities still exist, in fact, most of them look newer than before. He snuck a peek at the back alley, making sure that the door to the Velvet Room was there, before leaving to visit the SEES dorm. Except, there was no dorm to be visited. There was no trace of the dorm to show it even existed in the first place. Standing in front of where the dorm was supposed to be, Minato could feel Ryoji's shock even more than his own.

_They demolished the dorm? Aww, but we had so many beautiful memories here,_ Ryoji lamented.

_Well, I guess I've been a statue long enough_, Minato sighed.

_But you haven't! It's only been five years!_

_A lot can happen in five years._

_But the last time I checked, Ken-kun was still in Gekkoukan Middle and stayed in the dorm. There is no way Misturu-san will allow anyone to demolish it if that's the case, _Ryoji argued, unwilling to believe what he was seeing.

_We can visit the school. I'm sure they couldn't have demoli-_ Minato stopped thinking when he turned around and saw the railroad towards Gekkoukan High.

The railroad was not connected, and it looked like it was undergoing a major repair process. Minato looked down onto the floor, feeling a little disappointed that he could not visit the school. He began to walk back to Paulownia Mall; maybe Igor could give him some insight to what was happening.

But as he returned to the mall, a newspaper stand that happened to be there gave him an idea. Reading the newspaper would tell him what happened around here more than asking Igor, since that bastard is always so cryptic and Minato never really understood what he says anyway.

"100 yen for the newspaper," the old storekeeper said when he saw Minato walking closer. Minato reached for his wallet, and surprise! His money was still intact. Exchanging a 100-yen piece for the newspaper, Minato groaned when he saw the date.

"Seriously, old man? You could at least give me a copy that's more recent," this copy was from 1995, dammit. It's ancient, "Go put it in a museum on display or something."

The old man glared at Minato. "Ooooh, I get it! You are here to trick me for a refund, aren't ya? Well, you can't fool me!" he grabbed Minato's copy of newspaper and pointed at the date, "This is today's issue! Now leave! I swear, youngsters nowadays..." He mumbled the last part of the sentence and stomped off.

Minato stood there in shock.

_Ryoji, The Fall happened in 2010, right?_

Ryoji stayed silent, and Minato took that as a yes. Suddenly, Minato felt as if every piece of the puzzle fell into place.

The SEES dorm was not demolished; it was not built yet. The railroad was not under repair; it was under construction. The Iwatodai Strip Mall was not renovated yet, and so Bookworms and Wild-Duck did not exist at this time. And most of all, the Dark Hour did not exist during this year.

Erebus sent Minato back way too far.

Time to go pay Igor a visit.

* * *

><p>Minato found the purple, glowing door in the back alley. He opened the door and found the familiar Velvet Room meeting him like always.<p>

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Elizabeth greeted, "It is such a pleasant surprise to see you back."

"It's more like a terrible surprise," Minato answered, "So, Igor, what is happening?"

The man who was sitting in front of Minato grinned in an awfully creepy manner and said, "You see, you have been sent back into the past, way before the beginning of your first journey, in order to reset you."

"I realized that."

"Erebus attempted to send both you and itself back prior to your signing of the contract, which should have robbed you of your powers and made the seal vulnerable. However, Erebus did not realize that you and the seal were one, almost inseparable by force. As it teared you from the seal, part of you lingered and maintained the seal, and the other was sent back in time, creating a paradoxical effect."

"What paradoxical effect?"

"Have you noticed that all of your memories, powers, as well as your close belongings were all retained? That was the paradox. Erebus's attempt to reset you should have wiped everything, and I am sure that this is not the end of the paradox."

"What do you mean?"

Igor only grinned and ignored his question. "Do you feel the connection you still have with the seal? Even through this turn of events, you are still connected to your original timeline. Now then, I believe time is running short. If you are ever in need of assistance, please feel free to stop by again. Until then, farewell."

* * *

><p>Minato blinked, and he returned to the back alley.<p>

He gained even more questions than answers from his visit to the Velvet Room. Igor was cryptic as always, leaving the most important details for Minato to figure out for himself. Just as he was pondering what he could possibly do, he heard footsteps behind him. He was surprised when he saw Elizabeth, the elevator attendant who almost never leaves the Velvet Room.

"I was wondering if I can follow you on your exciting adventures," she said, and sure enough, she looked excited.

"Why? I thought you weren't allowed to leave?" Minato asked.

"My previous quest for power is not yet complete. As time marches on, it is possible that the same chain of events that happened in your time will happen once again, and I must do everything it takes to prevent that from happening," she answered easily, "I have permission from my master to leave, and until my return, my brother will take my place."

A dull pain surged through Minato as he understood what Elizabeth was talking about. If Minato lives on and continues to do nothing, then The Fall would happen once again, and he would become the Great Seal that blocks Erebus from Nyx again.

This time, he was not so sure if he was ready to make that kind of sacrifice. And to prevent that, he would need all the help he could get.

"I would appreciate it," Minato said, and yawned.

"Oh, my! It would seem that you are very tired. Perhaps we should find a place to rest? After all, fighting while being tired is very troubling," Elizabeth suggested.

Ryoji just had to contribute during this moment,_ Y'know, I've heard that there is this hotel in Shirakawa Boule-_

"No," Minato interrupted Ryoji before he could continue.

"No?" Elizabeth asked in confusion, "I thought you would know very well that fighting while tired is very troubling."

"Sorry, I was just talking to myself. We'll find a place to rest. An inn or something around here."

_Aww,_ Ryoji complained, _But I want to-_

_Just shut up, _Minato thought in his mind, _this is going to be a long day._

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Wow, that was short. Next chapter will be longer I promise.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** High school woes make me update faster, even though that means I am supposed to be doing school work. OTL

To all of you that reviewed, followed, or favorited this story, thank you so much. It makes me so happy to see that my first attempt at fanfiction was not too badly done. xD

**Disclaimer: P3 belongs to Atlus.**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

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><p>After an initial argument over where to live for the time being, Minato and Elizabeth ended up in an apartment that Elizabeth bought with her bulging wallet of cash. Minato thought that it would be a nice idea; the apartment itself was big and very close to where the future SEES dorm would be, so if Minato ever needed it, the apartment could act as a secret base of some sort. Now, if Elizabeth would stop playing with the light switch already...<p>

"Intriguing. So this is a 'light switch' that has the control over the visibility of all living creatures that live within its domain and dominant during the night. I would have thought that something this powerful would be much larger," she continued, and the lights flickered on and off, "And oh, what's this?"

Minato saw her walking towards the refrigerator in the kitchen. Oh wait, she was walking towards the gas stove.

"Elizabeth, it's time to go," he said before she could reach the dangerous kitchenware.

They had rested for a few days, since Minato needed more adjustment than he previously thought. This new timeline seems to drain more energy from him, though it might just be because he was subconsciously holding up the Great Seal on the other side as well.

"I see that you have a plan, Minato-san," Elizabeth replied attentively.

"Yeah, we are going to do some reconnaissance and research. There is too much I still don't know about this time, so I need some catching up."

"How ironic. You are from the future, and yet you do not know about the past," Elizabeth giggled, "It is too bad that the human form of Thanatos will not be able to join us on our mission today."

Minato could hear Ryoji sighing in the back of his mind. If Minato could have given him a pat on the back, he would have. It was too risky for Ryoji to form physically in this world. Because this world did not have a seal or any sort of separation between Nyx and Erebus, allowing the physical manifestation of Ryoji might trigger the creation of another trigger of The Fall. Ryoji's existence was the affirmation of The Fall, after all. The only thing Minato could do for him now was to summon Thanatos a little more often in a fight, giving him a bit of fresh air.

_Speaking of which, is it always possible to summon Personas outside of the Dark Hour now?_ Minato wondered. Maybe he should try it when he had time.

"How much money do you have left?" He asked Elizabeth.

"There is no need to worry about my financial status, Minato-san."

"That's not it. I was wondering if you could buy a computer for me."

"A... 'computer', you say?" Elizabeth's eyes lit up in curiosity. Minato suddenly felt bad about asking her after she bought the apartment, but he himself did not have enough money to spend on a computer. Exploring Tartarus was expensive business, and Minato barely managed to keep himself alive after buying equipment for _every SEES member_ and withdrawing personas from the compendium.

"Preferably a good one, since we may need to hack into databases in the future," he added.

"What is this... 'hacking' that you are speaking of?"

"... Elizabeth?" Minato could see the increasing sparkle in her eyes. According to past experiences - dates, as Elizabeth called them - her curiosity would attract attention and her actions were either extremely dangerous or very, very stupid. Minato admitted that he was once very fond of Elizabeth's naivete when it comes to the outside world, but this was definitely not a good time to be dealing with this. Especially when he still had a world to save with a limited amount of time. "Never mind. We can deal with this later. Let's go do some recon."

"I understand, then I shall accompany you. But please, tell me more about this 'computer' and 'hacking' that you speak of later," she said, refusing to let the topic go.

Minato began to think of ways to get out of this mess as he got out of the apartment and shut the door. The last thing he wanted was for Elizabeth to indirectly destroy the world by leaking information 15 years prior to The Fall.

* * *

><p>Minato made a list of things that he needed to find out and do about this time. The first and foremost, he needed to know the current status of the Kirijo Group. According to his memory, the current head of the Kirijo Group should be Kouetsu Kirijo, Mitsuru's grandfather. The Kirijo Group built Gekkoukan High for the sole purpose of gathering test subjects for its experiment relating to Personas and Tartarus, which leads to the second thing that he needed to find out - the construction status of the high school. Third, he would need to track down Shuji Ikutsuji and, if time allowed, Eiichiro Takeba. Access to either one will reveal a way to monitor the shadow experiments.<p>

He knew he had his priorities, but he could not help adding "finding the younger versions of the SEES members" onto his to-do list. Not only would finding people who would be potential persona users be helpful, he missed them dearly. Spending his last year with them was the best year that Minato had ever lived, and he would do whatever it takes to stay with them this time while protecting them.

Lastly, as strange as it might sound, he wanted to find his younger self. Minato knew himself the best; if he could convince his younger self to help with his plan, he would have two Wild Cards on hand and a much larger advantage. His younger version would be a person to protect as well, he realized, because he might become the Great Seal instead of Minato himself.

With those thoughts in mind, Minato and Elizabeth wandered down the streets and into Paulownia Mall that was emitting its bright light into the night sky as always. The newspaper stand from a few days before was still there, and Minato wondered if the old man remembered the guy who "tried to trick him for a refund." As soon as Minato tried to speak up, the old man stood up and pointed his wrinkled finger at Minato.

"You!" the old man exclaimed, "I know you! You were the one who tried to rob me of my money!"

Somehow, he felt like the old man made it sound even worse than it was before. Either that, or he mistook Minato for some other guy.

"...Can I get today's newspaper?" Minato asked, handing him a 100-yen piece like before.

"Of course _not_!"

"What about the leftovers? Surely you would have newspapers from a few days back that you couldn't sell?" Minato asked again, handing him more 100-yen pieces.

"Was that an _insult_ to my store?" the old man asked with an accusatory tone, "Out! I don't want to see you!"

Watching this with mild amusement, Elizabeth suddenly decided to remark out loud, "It would seem that this man is quite infuriated. Perhaps you could strike him a better deal?"

Noticing Elizabeth's presence (and possibly her looks), the old man changed his attitude, fixed his hair, and posed while saying, "Hey, young lady, what brings you here?"

_Ew_, Minato mentally twitched while his expression did not change,_ that was bad. Like, Junpei-bad. And he doesn't even have the looks to make up for it._

_Well, Junpei-kun couldn't too bad compared to this, if the Chidori-san that he speaks of was anything to go by, _Ryoji commented.

"I would like to buy whatever he asked for," Elizabeth took out her giant wallet again, blissfully oblivious of the flirting, "Is there anything else that you want, Minato-san?"

"Anything with information on the Kirijo Group or Gekkoukan High."

"Oh, I see now. You are jobless! No wonder you tried to steal my money. Too bad you will never succeed, huh?" the old man taunted, but it did not insult Minato as the comment was intended to. After all, it was the truth. After a while, the old man found a stash of slightly older newspapers and magazines, and Elizabeth handed him a 5000-yen bill. Minato thought that the man's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

Minato and Elizabeth left the newspaper stand and found an empty bench in the mall to sort out the stash of newspapers. Most of them were unrelated, but there were some articles that mentioned the appearance of a new type of "apathy syndrome" that had no apparent cause and no cure for the time being; Minato kept those pages, knowing that those mean the shadows were on move somewhere, and it was possible that the shadow experiments had already begun.

The stash took Minato very long to sort. There was very limited information on the Kirijo Group that gave insight to the shadow experiments, and none of the articles ever mentioned the experiments involving the science department. Gekkoukan High received decent coverage in news media; the Kirijo Group was offering scholarships for students to enter this high school, most likely trying to lure students in for experiments. The grand opening of Gekkoukan High was on an undecided day of April, 1996, around half a year from the current time.

After Minato threw away the information he did not need in a trash bin, he found out that Elizabeth had gone missing while he was so focused on sorting the information. He looked around for a bizarre, blue uniform, but he found nothing until he heard a wild scream from one of the stores in the mall. He found an electronics store, and the clerk inside looked like he was about to faint with foam in his mouth. Next to him, Elizabeth was humming that... strange Velvet Song that she was singing the day she visited the music room at Gekkoukan High.

_Oh great_, Minato groaned, w_hat did she do this time?_

Minato walked into the store just in time to hear the clerk's yells. "Holy shit! Stop whatever you're doin'! You just destroyed all of our computers!" the clerk screamed at Elizabeth, who noticed Minato but not the clerk.

"Ah, Minato-san. I see that you have finished your work. Forgive me for leaving, but I simply could not resist the temptation," she directed Minato's attention at the row of computers, which were all showing black screens and error messages, "These are the 'computers' that you were speaking of this morning, are they not? What wonderful machinery they are! Just-"

"Shut up!" the clerk could not hold his rage any longer, "How am I going to explain to my boss about this? Either you buy all of these computers, or I'll call the police to settle the issue!"

At that moment, Minato realized that Elizabeth had destroyed a wide range of computers, including the cheap home-use desktops and the expensive gaming laptops. Just the thought of having to pay for all of this by working many, many hours scared Minato. Something that caught Minato's eyes, however, was the fact that all of these computers looked ahead of their time, as if they were those computers that stores sell in his original timeline.

"Very well, since Minato-san is desperately in need of a computer, I shall buy them from you," Elizabeth gladly accepted the "offer", ignoring the underlying threat to call the police.

_I'm not that desperate, _Minato complained in his head, _and I only need one that works. Not a ton of unusable ones._

_Maybe Elizabeth-san is actually a shopaholic? _Ryoji said, _I mean, she's been buying a lot of stuff._

Judging by her current behavior, Minato concludes that Elizabeth was indeed a shopaholic. At least Minato did not have to pay for her expenses.

Elizabeth's agreement to buy the computers seemed to have saved the clerk from a certain death, and when that guy tried to cajole her into buying more, she did and even paid for the shipping fees. At this rate, it would not be surprising if she bought the entire store.

"Elizabeth, just stop. We still have things to do," Minato used the recon as an excuse to get her away from the store.

"I see, then it is time for me to leave," she walked out of the store in a rather carefree fashion, and Minato followed her outside. She suddenly stopped and looked at Minato, "I have forgotten to ask you where we were going."

"We will do some recon around the edge of Tatsumi Port Island, where we can see the school's current condition," Minato said and continued walking without waiting for Elizabeth, knowing that she would catch up.

After a short walk, they arrived at their destination. The current state of Gekkoukan High could clearly be seen. Minato remembered how he almost never looked at his school at night without it turning into Tartarus. This school, standing there so naturally, almost looked ominous. It was already mostly built, with some parts still needing some attention and some parts with construction material dangling over them. The railroad to the school was nearly complete as well. Judging from the outline of the school, the structure of the old Gekkoukan High seemed rather different from the new one, and somehow Minato had some kind of gut feeling that something was inside that school, right now. He could almost feel the presence of something inside, even with a body of water separating him from the school.

"Someone is coming this way," Elizabeth observed, and true enough, a truck approached their direction and went right past them. Minato stared at the truck and felt very uneasy, as if there was _something_ inside the truck that he should know about and should pay attention to. Elizabeth sensed something as well, and noted, "My, there are many children in that truck. I wonder what they are doing at this time of the day."

A sudden chill went through Minato when he heard that. Children. In Gekkoukan High. _Experiments._

"Elizabeth, go back to the apartment by yourself. I will follow that truck," Minato ordered and did not bother to listen to any replies before rushing towards the truck's direction. The truck was not driving very quickly, most likely because the driver was trying to avoid the children in the back from making sounds that would create attention. With Minato's training in Tartarus, he followed that truck with ease. The truck soon came to a halt, in front of a building that looked like a small storage area. What made the storage space suspicious was that it could see Gekkoukan High directly.

The driver unseated and got off the truck, and Minato quickly found a close wall to hide behind. Minato thought that it was strange, however. Why would the Kirijo Group bother to gather children for experimentation? Minato remembered what Strega said at their very last battles; the Kirijo Group gathered children from the streets and attempted to create artificial personas in order to explore Tartarus, which could not exist without the Dark Hour.

"All right, brats, walk one by one into the building. Boss said to do a checkup on each of you before lettin' ya through," the driver said and opened the back doors of the truck. The children did not look sad, in fact, they looked excited, as if they were going to an amusement park. The driver began the pull the children off of the truck, and stared at them for a while before pushing each one into the storage building. Minato inspected the children as well, looking for traces of experiments, but finding nothing unusual until a pair of golden eyes looked at him, realizing that Minato was present.

Minato was shocked. Long white hair and golden eyes.

"'Ey, what are you lookin' at?" the driver yelled at the boy that was staring at Minato, "Hurry it up. We're behind schedule here!"

"...It's nothing," the child looked away from Minato and walked into the building willingly.

Minato cursed quietly after he lost sight of the child. He was unprepared for this; he did not know that the Kirijo Group collected children even before Tartarus appeared. Most importantly, that child that just stared at him looked eerily like...

A younger version of Takaya Sakaki. The leader of Strega. The future enemy of SEES.

But what if Minato could save him now? Would that change anything?

Minato checked his supplies on hand. He had a few packs of Medicine Powder and Revival Beads that he bought from the pharmacy, but nothing else.

"Looks like that's everybody," the driver said and returned to the driver's seat. He picked up a remote and pressed a button.

The door to the storage building was closing.

Quickly and quietly, Minato slipped through the doors without a second thought.

Saving Takaya would have to come first.

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><p><strong>AN: **As I promised, this chapter was not as short. The chapters might gradually be longer as I improve on writing. Feel free to correct any mistakes I made. I didn't proofread. Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I've never realized that trying to keep the characters from being ooc is so difficult. OTL Though I enjoy writing this story nonetheless.

Again, to those who reviewed/favorited/followed this story, thank you. It really encourages me to keep writing. C:

**Disclaimer: P3 belongs to Atlus.**

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

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><p>The storage was dark, and Minato wondered if equipping Thanatos helped his vision by a little.<p>

He could hear the children's chatter and almost feel where they were. They were young, maybe around five to seven years old. Most of them were excited about something, and he briefly thought if the child that looked like Takaya was one of those excited kids. They talked about new lives and new beginnings, as if the Shadow Experiments were a million miles away.

Minato wished that he had Fuuka with him. Or Mitsuru even. He would like to avoid being spotted, and his senses were rather limited. He could only sense the walls (or objects, he was not sure) that were close to him and the children that accidentally got close, but that was it.

_At least you could sense something. And I'm not helping you, you know?_ Ryoji answered his questions in his head, _you are sensing stuff on your own. Hey, maybe you can be like Fuuka-san in the future!_

_With my current progress? I don't think so,_ Minato answered quickly to prevent himself from being distracted.

Suddenly, the lights turned on, and Minato darted behind a large storage crate to hide. He searched for Jin or Chidori in the group of children, but he could not find any trace of either of them. A group of scientists came out, all in lab clothing. In the middle stood a man whose face Minato would never forget, no matter how much younger he looked.

Shuji Ikutsuki.

Minato glared at him, trying his best to suppress his urge to kill Ikutsuki right at that instant.

The man walked in front of the children and cleared his throat.

"Hello, my name is Shuji Ikutsuki," the man introduced himself with a benevolent smile, "'Ikutsuki' is very hard to say, isn't it? Even I get toungue-tied myself," the man chuckled, "I apologize for sending you here to stay for the night. We have temporary rooms here for you to stay this week, and then we will take you to Yakushima for a little vacation before we come back. This place will be renovated by then."

Minato could hear the children cheering with excitement.

"Wow, we're going to Yakushima? I heard that only rich people get to visit that place!"

"No kidding. But we are invited to help to Kirijo Group after all. It's only fair that we get to go somewhere like that."

"But still! Who would have thought that they would spend so much on us?"

While the kids continued to chatter away, Minato could feel his heart sinking with worries. He was forgetting something. Something about Yakushima other than the beautiful scenery he saw the last time he went there, Mitsuru's huge mansion and maids, operation babe hunt...

Wait. Operation babe hunt.

_Oooh, what's that?_ Ryoji asked with interest.

_I met Aigis on that island,_ Minato thought without replying to Ryoji.

_During operation babe hunt? Wow, how did that go?_ Ryoji asked again with excitement.

_The Kirijo Group has a lab there. For developing Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons. I can't believe I forgot about this until just now,_ Minato said with frustration.

Ikutsuki began to lead the kids to their temporary rooms in the deeper parts of the storage. As Minato observed longer, he felt someone's gaze focused on him. There Takaya was again, staring at the general direction where Minato was hiding. Minato attempted to shuffle away from his vision before Takaya could tell the scientists of his presence.

Minato knew fortune was not on his side as soon as Ikutsuki approached Takaya with that fake smile like always.

"Hi there," Ikutsuki greeted the young boy, "What are you looking at?"

Takaya looked at him for a while before answering, "...There was someone there. Watching."

"Hm? Oh, you must be talking about our security guards," Ikutsuki answered gleefully.

_Security guards?_

"What do you mean?" Takaya asked.

"The Kirijo Group create their own security guards. Robots. We call them ASWs. The full name is too long to remember, but know that they mean no harm."

_Too long to remember my ass_, Minato thought, _wait, there are ASWs here?_

Once he finished that thought, he felt something pointing at the back of his head. His arms were held together tightly. There was a mechanical noise behind him, and a robotic voice pronounced the words "do not move" with clear syllables.

It took merely a second for Minato to switch his equipped persona from Thanatos to Odin and gave the robot behind him a painful Ziodyne. Switching personas within seconds was second nature to him, especially after training with the SEES members to defeat Nyx - the entity that they could never defeat. The electrocuted robot fell onto the floor with a loud "thunk", and Minato swore at himself for letting a Ziodyne loose before his brain could even process what was happening.

That noise certainly caught Takaya and Ikutsuki's attention.

"Hm. Maybe they are malfunctioning. It happens sometimes," Ikutsuki let out a seemingly embarrassed chuckle, and called for another nearby scientist's attention, "hey, check over there and make sure there's nothing wrong. I'll lead this boy to his room."

_Well, shit._

Minaton brainstormed for ways to knock out that scientist without anyone else noticing.

He absentmindedly checked his equipment. He was surprised to find Akihiko's Brass Knuckles that his friend abandoned for better equipment in his pocket, just like how the weapons he bought always appear to him when he needed them.

_Bingo._

He swapped his Lucifer's Blade with the Brass Knuckles.

By the time Takaya was taken away by Ikutsuki, a quiet "whack" and a "thump" went unheard by the two as Minato punched the scientist who fainted immediately and collapsed. Minato tore a piece of the broken ASW's clothes and gagged the scientist and another to tied him up. Then he took off the scientist's lab coat and seemingly standardized trousers before dumping the scientist along with the ASW into those convenient boxes that were in this storage building.

_What did you do that for?_ Ryoji questioned with mild disgust.

_Oh, you're back,_ Minato thought as he put on the lab coat. He must have equipped Thanatos again without noticing,_ I'm trying to sneak in with these clothes. Ugh, they stink._

_I thought- Never mind._

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what Ryoji was thinking. Minato, Ryoji, and Junpei were best friends after all, and the ASW was barely wearing anything since most of its body parts lacked the human qualities that ASWs did not need, so those parts were just painted over.

He decided against commenting on it.

_Hey, did you notice something strange?_ Ryoji asked in a serious voice.

_Like what?_

When Ryoji did not answer, Minato thought that maybe even death itself could be paranoid.

After he finished changing into his new outfit, he followed the path where Ikutsuki led Takaya towards. Since he did not need to hide anymore with these clothes, all he needed to do was the _look_ like a scientist. Minato walked as confidently as he could, exploring the building. He found many bedrooms that were barely furnished, just enough for the children to settle down for a few days. He opened one of the doors and immediately felt several pairs of eyes focused on him.

"Sorry, wrong door," he said and closed it after not finding who he was looking for.

This cycle continued. He would barge into someone's room confidently and look around before apologizing for his interruption. He hoped that none of the children would rat him out before he could find Takaya.

This reminded him that he needed a good way to rescue Takaya. That young boy was probably convinced that the Kirijo Group was trying to help them, not experiment on them. In that case, it would make Minato look like the villain, and he definitely could not knock him out with fists like he did with the scientist. He hoped that he had some Rancid Gravy with him. That stuff stank so much it would probably make everyone faint except for the desperate. And Nozomi.

_Ryoji, how is your aim?_ Minato asked, after opening another door and apologizing.

_My aim? Why?_

_I need to use your Mudoon to make Takaya unconscious. I know I shouldn't, but he is not immune to it yet and it won't kill him. Not to mention that is the only way to get him out of here without attracting too much attention._

He could feel Ryoji's discontent and disapproval, but Ryoji stayed silent. Finally, when he opened the door and found who he was looking for, he prepared his evoker.

"It's you. So you aren't a robot after all," Takaya said as if he knew from the start, "You work here?"

Click. He closed the door behind him.

"Yeah," Minato lied, "Just have a few questions for you."

"Right. Sure you do. Otherwise you wouldn't-" Takaya stopped talking when he saw the evoker Minato had in his hand, "You-"

Minato aimed at his head.

"Thanatos!"

The God of Death appeared in an instant and unleashed Mudoon in the small bedroom. Without any foreknowledge, Takaya could not escape the spell, and collapsed onto his bed. Thanatos disappeared, and the two were left alone again. Minato lifted Takaya with one arm and opened the door. For the second time of the day, he regretted his decisions. Marin Karin would have worked better, he realized. At least if there were hidden cameras around, the Takaya would be walking beside him instead of being carried out. Oh well. Too late.

If there were security cameras, then he would have probably been caught by now. But he should not take any chances. After all, he was quite charismatic and eye-catching, even to the people on the other side of the surveillance cameras. Having Narcissus as a persona must have rubbed off on him.

Equipping Lucifer's Blade again and temporarily switching out his Omnipotent Orb for the Indigo Cape, he hoped that this setup would increase his chance of escaping successfully without anyone recognizing him. Strangely enough, Minato had been very successful at avoiding everything that would cause him trouble and his escape went without a hitch. Maybe the Indigo Cape did have some use after all.

Then he carried Takaya on his back, as if Takaya was just a tired child waiting to go back home. No one would suspect Minato for kidnapping or anything of the sort.

* * *

><p>The moment he returned to the apartment, the sight he encountered was very shocking.<p>

_Calling it a trash lot would be an understatement, _Minato thought, _this will not leave a good impression on the kid. Not at all._

"Elizabeth, what did you do?" Minato asked even though he knew the answer.

"Welcome back, Minato-san," Elizabeth greeted cheerfully, "I have discovered a passion known to humans as 'shopping spree'."

"...You would have to move all of that into your room. He'll be staying here tonight," he directed her attention towards Takaya, who was still unconscious.

"Ah, so he is one of the people that you knew from the distant future," she inspected the child on Minato's back, "There seem to be no signs of a persona awakening yet. Are you planning on letting him join you on your quest?"

Minato stared at Elizabeth, dumbfounded. He had not thought that far into his plans regarding Takaya, or the rest of Strega if he managed to find them. There was a possibility that he could be some help once he obtained his persona, but on the other hand... Minato was not so sure if his wish stayed the same.

His wish for The Fall. His wish to witness the coming of Nyx.

If it did, then there would be no need for Takaya to join. It will only hinder his goals, and it would make more sense for Minato to prevent him from getting a persona in the first place. The same applied to the rest of Strega.

"You have reached your decision, then," Elizabeth said, "No matter what you choose, I will stay by your side for as long as you require my assistance," after she finished her sentence, she looked troubled, "Now, I believe it is time to move all of my new belongings into my room. How would one fit all of her belonging into one room? This is quite the puzzle."

As she begins to move her stuff away, Minato carried Takaya to an unoccupied room. The room only had a bed, a desk, and a chair, so it was not much better than what the Kirijo Group offered him. But still, the room's lights was brighter and the room itself looked newer, which should not be too awful for his stay.

Minato placed Takaya on the bed, and turned off the lights. Just before he closed the door and left, he decided to stay in the room instead.

_Better not to let him escape,_ Minato thought to himself.

Minato sat on the chair next to the desk and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>When Takaya woke up, he found himself in a large, unfamiliar room. It was bright; the sunlight shone right into his eyes, causing him to wince a little.<p>

A man was sitting on a chair next to him. He was asleep, head drooping onto his chest with something plugged in his ears. Takaya looked closer. Something about this guy seemed vaguely familiar.

The sleeping person mumbled something that Takaya could not quite catch and yawned before waking up.

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"It's you! What did you do to me? Where the hell am I?" Takaya exclaimed after recognizing the person in front of him. It was the guy who attacked him and made him unconscious with some gigantic monster. He got off the bed, panicked, and tried to run away before that guy grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Wait. I didn't do anything to you. I just want to help," he said.

"I don't want your 'help'. Let me go," Takaya snarled.

"What did the Kirijo Group offer to make you so eager to go back?"

"As if I'd ever tell you."

Other than the trip to Yakushima, all that the Kirijo Group offered was that he and the children who live on the streets would have enough money to get by, food to eat, and places to live. Takaya did hesitate when the Kirijo Group offered this deal; it was suspicious and too good to be true. But for children like him, he did not have much choice. It was getting harder and harder to earn enough money for food and clothes, and he would rather take a chance than to die on the streets.

He was not as excited about this as his companions were. But he was sure that the choice was for the best.

And the man in front of him was definitely more suspicious than the Kirijo Group.

The blue-haired person sighed in frustration. "My name is Minato," he said without releasing Takaya's arm, "The Kirijo Group is going to harm you. It's better for you to leave."

"Right. And if that's the case, then why did you only 'save' me? Why didn't you save everyone else?" Takaya sneered.

Minato looked hesitant to answer, and that made him even more suspicious.

"Do you have... someone that you care for in that group of children?"

"I care for all of them."

"That's not what I meant," he paused to emphasize his question, "Do you have anyone special to you that you don't want to be dead?"

"What kind of question is that?"

Minato did not answer. He stared at Takaya before taking a deep breath and told him in an apologizing voice.

"By the end of this, none of you will survive," Minato said with certainty, "And I saved you because you will be the one to suffer the most out of your group."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I shall give internet cookies to those who can guess what Ryoji thought was strange but did not mention. xD

Anyway, school is killing me with work lately, so the next update might come a little later than usual.


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